The Greatest Creation Ever

First: Because it's IcyHot

Second: Because it's NO MESS

(no nasty IcyHot on your hands!)

In response to my Running Buddy's comment to the previous post

She asked (and I quote), "Did you do your running today Missy???"

In response to that I feel the need to make you aware of my running situation.  I had anticipated running at 5 this morning.  I even set my alarm.  But when it went off at 4:30 am and there was a RAGING TEMPEST outside, I reevaluated my plans and went back to bed.

The end.

The Great Race has passed

Well the Great Race has come and gone, and boy was it a doozy!  Nerves got the better of me in the morning, but once I was on the shuttle to the start line those nerves turned to excitement.  2 of Alyssa's cousins met us in line for the shuttle bus and we all rode over together.  The line, by the way, circled PPG Place!  (which - if you're not familiar with Pittsburgh - is like going around 2 city blocks)

Alyssa waiting in line for the bus.

As the bus nears the start line, people are seen all moving the same direction, numbers pinned to their shirts, faces eager with anticipation.  We get off the bus and follow all these eager running folk.  The line to use the port-a-potties resembles that for the shuttle bus, so we all opt to wait until the end of the race, or hope that there may be some along the route.  Music is playing, and the start line buzzes with excitement - thousands of people are lined up ready to run.

The start.

Just as they are about to officially give the go ahead, the band strike up Shout and suddenly about 1/2 of the runners are jumping around, singing along, hands flying in the air - I am one of them.  Crossing the start line, activating my timing chip, I am eager and excited - and then there it is - the first hill.  Ughh.  I attempt to run it, failing miserably.  Alyssa stays with me, the course flattens out, I feel better.  A commotion to our right, someone has fallen down.  I look over and see a girl, on her hands and knees - I can only imagine how scraped up she must be, but I keep running swept along by the other runners.  The second hill approaches, again I attempt to run it, and again I fail.  This time I lose Alyssa, I am sure now that we will be running the race separately, but suddenly there she is beside me just past the crest of the hill.

The camaraderie among runners is an amazing thing.  Alyssa mentions the need for a rest room, and a guy running past yells out that he needs the same.  Farther along a couple women are talking, one says "Slow is the new Fast," which brings chuckles from several neighboring runners.  At mile 2 I lose Alyssa, this time because she has gone into the WQED studios to use the restroom, she sees King Friday's castle and the tree from Mr. Rodger's Neighborhood.  I plod along, walking a bit more than running, since I told Alyssa I'd slow up for her to be able to catch me.  I spot her at mile 3, she is still a ways back and waves me on.  Somewhere around mile 4 we meet up again, after the first major downhill run.  Mile 5, in an attempt to raise her spirits, I give her what I think is a playful shove (she disagrees) towards Smiley, and tell her to give him a high five.  She curses me out for this most of the rest of the race. 

Rounding the bend near the finish I spot Bob (Alyssa's hubby) smiling and cheering us on.  We cross the finish line at the same time, both with a time of 1 hour, 20 minutes, 23 seconds.

Don't I look ridiculously serious?

(Alyssa looks like she may cry)

(Poor Lyssa)

My final place was 7788 out of 7958 finishers.  I like to think of that as I'm faster than 170 people.  I choose to ignore the 7787 people faster than me.  There's always next year - maybe then I'll be faster than 180 people!

Cute Shoe Curse

Today I wore my cute shoes - they're black eyelet peeptoe espadrille wedges.  And I forgot I would be running all around town today.

Now my feet hurt.

Ow.

(please ignore the fact that I need a pedicure)

14,000 Registered Runners

Oh my.  Sunday I run a race.  A big race.  The Great Race, if you will (hahaha... which is funny 'cause that's what it's actually called! Oh, I crack myself up).  14,000 registered runners.  The most in the history of The Great Race, surpassing 1987's 12,807 runners.  That's a lot.  For comparison, the last race Alyssa and I ran only had 119 runners - this is that, times a thousand, with a couple thousand more added in.  However the 14,000 is split between the 5K and the 10K (last year of the 12,788 runners - 8,292 ran the 10K), so I'm not sure how many will be running each length.  It doesn't matter though - it's still thousands more than the last race!!!

We will be running the 10K, which starts in Frick Park and runs past CMU and PITT and then through the city on Fifth Ave and Boulevard of the Allies, ending at Point State Park.  You might as well call it the University race because it runs past: Carnegie Mellon University, University of Pittsburgh, Carlow University, Duquesne University and Point Park University.  It's hard to believe that's only 6.2 miles!  After the initial uphill push in the beginning of the race, most of the course is downhill - thank goodness.

I guess I'm most excited for Friday night though, that's when we go to our first Expo.  What is an Expo you ask?  Well it's where you go to pick up your race packet, which included your t-shirt and bib (race number)!  Also at some (I don't know if it's the case for The Great Race, but I would assume) you also get a goodie bag filled with samples and coupons and things provided by the race sponsors.  There are also booths set up where sponsors and vendors have things on display and to purchase.

As for the running itself, it is going well.  On Saturday Alyssa and I went to Arrowhead Trail and ran/walked 7 miles!  Our general game plan was: run a mile, walk 2 minutes, run the remainder of the mile, walk 2 minutes, and so on and so forth.  It went fairly well, mile 3 was pure torture for me with mile 4 being the easiest (I think because it was mostly downhill).  Alyssa had more problems towards the end, but we stuck with it and encouraged each other.  I led a final push at the end, which is usually my weakest point in the run, but maybe it was the combination of anticipating Starbucks and having Glenn Campbell's Rhinestone Cowboy blasting in my ear that gave me the strength to kick it out.  Don't judge - I (heart) Glenn Campbell.  Following the run was probably the most pathetic stretching session ever.  Sore from the run, I could barely get my leg up onto the fence to stretch out my hamstrings - it was not pleasant getting it down either.  Our times are improving, we average between a 12 & a 12:30 mile.  Which for 2 former non-runners who have only been training now for 3.5 months to maintain that pace is pretty impressive in my book.

Since we have the race on Sunday, we are swapping our long run and the short run this weekend.  Scheduled was 8 miles for Saturday and 3 for Sunday, so instead we are running 4 on Saturday and racing 6.2 on Sunday, which I think is a fair swap.

And I promise I will try, try, try my darndest to write more often so that you're not presented with a lengthy tome every time I finally sit down to write!

10 days later...

I just realized that it's been 10 days since I've blogged.  Oops!  Let's see going back...

Saturday September 4th we ran our first race, and came in 114 & 115 out of 119 runners.  BUT, I was not last and that's all I wanted from that race :o)

Last Saturday we ran 6 miles.  6!!!!  Since I had to work we ran seperately, Alyssa ran on Brownsville Road in the morning and I ran at the track at night.  It was awesome.  Perhaps for the first time ever I actually felt really good about it the entire time I was running!

Yesterday morning we ran 3 miles before work and will do the same tomorrow, Saturday we'll be running 7 miles on the Arrowhead Trail - should be fine.

Lots of various race news:

• Neither of us will be doing the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 5K anymore
• We have added a race for October 31: Costumes for a Cause 5K, which benefits the American Association for Lost Children (perk: t-shirts and we get to run in costumes - I plan on being Dorothy with ruby red sneakers!)
• We have added a race for December 11: Pittsburgh Jingle Bell Run 5K, which benefits the Arthritis Foundation (perk: t-shirts and we get to run with jingle bells tied to our shoes, and it ends at McFadden's on the North Shore)
• We have added 2 races for the weekend following St. Patrick's Day, March 19th & 20th:  Shamrock 8K and 1/2 Marathon (perk: medals, t-shirts, a pin, Yuengling, and Irish Stew X 2!!!)
• We have added a "ramble" for April 17, 2001: Race, Run, Ride and Ramble on the Cumberland Valley Rail-Trail, which benefits the Cumberland Valley Rail to Trails Council - we will be doing the 15K ramble, since we're not trail runners (perk: t-shirt and I get to wear my hiking shoes)

This is just the start, we're planning out our schedule through January of 2012, and will be trying to get at least 1 race in a month from here on out.

This morning, Tonight & Tomorrow

Being the lazy bum I usually am, I did not run yesterday.  And so I ran this morning.  Well, ran/ walked.  Hills are hard. :o(  While I was out I passed an old man sitting on his stoop drinking coffee and managed a good morning as I jogged on by.  At the fire station I was forced to pause, because they were backing the fire truck into the station.  Ahh... firemen in the morning, what a lovely sight....  But, I digress.  I turned around at the UniMart and made my way back home, jogging back past the fire station with some of the firemen milling around outside :o)  I passed the old man again, I walked past him since his perch was located on an uphill climb, and he made the comment that I was "much slower on the way back" and laughed, I laughed with him and kept on chugging along.  As I was approaching Rite Aid (while running I might add), another runner was coming towards me, a very fine runner indeed.  Tall-ish, shaved head, in a tight black t-shirt - mmm....  And then he shouted something at me, I'm not sure what though.  The problems with attempting to talk & listen while running are: A) being out of breath sometimes what you say doesn't quite make it out; B) wearing headphones makes it hard to hear what others are saying; C) wearing headphones makes it hard for you to tell how loud you are speaking; D) when you're heading opposite directions it's hard to ask them to repeat themselves, because by the time you realize you have no clue what they said, they're already 5 blocks away!

Tonight the firm is closing early, which means there is a slight chance I might get to go home early.  If that's the case then I promised Ellie I would take her for a walk on the South Side at the bike trail.  Just a short one though, her little legs don't really agree with walking too far, and I don't want to be stuck carrying her back to the car.

Tomorrow I run a race.  YIPEEEE!!!!!!!!

2 Days

Several exciting things happen in 2 days...  OK only 2 exciting things happen in 2 days... OK 1 exciting thing and 1 thing that has been drawn out for about 2 years happen in 2 days...

First the exciting thing:  I'M GOING TO RUN A RACE!!!!! A REAL LIVE GET NUMBERS AND BE TIMED RACE!!!!!!  It's a 5K, so only 3 miles, but STILL!  I'm excited.

Now the not so exciting, and has been drawn out too long thing:  I'M GOING TO SEE SOCCER MIKE!!!!!  OK, maybe not as worthy of capital letters, but he has been in Pittsburgh now for a couple years and we still haven't met up, and it's now been almost 6 years since I last saw him, so I suppose the time has come. 

Here's a little background about how I know Soccer Mike and why I call him Soccer Mike:

We met working at Club Med back in 2004, we were both on the entertainment team so we worked in the same department, and we both started and finished working there around the same time - I think he may have stayed on longer than I did at the end but whatever.  He "dated" (I use the term loosely) my suite-mate for a while.  He put up with my horrible butchering of country music as I sang along very poorly with the radio while working in my shop, although he was not much better himself if I recall correctly. 
After Club Med we went our separate ways, and about 2 years ago he got back in touch with me since he had just moved to Pittsburgh and wanted to know if I was still in the area.  Unfortunately at that time I was just about to leave for Europe for several months, and since then it's been a lot of excuses (on both ends) for not seeing each other.  So the reason he's called Soccer Mike isn't all that exciting, it's because he's a soccer coach and his name is Mike (told you it wasn't that exciting) - he's the assistant men's coach at one of the universities in Oakland (I'll let you figure out which one).

That said, this Saturday I am going to a soccer game with Jonnie from work.  I will take lots of pictures, both of that and of Alyssa and I before and after the race, and hopefully will get them uploaded so I can put them online.

Alyssa and I are signing up for the Great Race too, which is a 10K on September 26th, so look for a countdown for that in the next day or so. 

Training note:  tired of driving 15 - 25 minutes to the track, I measured distances out from my driveway, a 2.5 mile run takes me to the other UniMart and back.  It's not too bad, the first 1/2 is almost all uphill, with the first 1/4 mile practically vertical, but I get to rest briefly at stop lights and I do have to incorporate some walking in the uphill segments.  And I walk down the torturous hill at the end so that I don't go skidding down it on my face, since that seems like a very painful thing to do.

HAPPY RUNNING :o)